Why we need the Custody Notification Service

In December 2014 we applied for funding for the Custody Notification Service (CNS) from the government’s Indigenous Advancement Strategy (IAS) funding round, but were not accepted. The Australian government Attorney-General’s department is funding the CNS until 30 June 2015 through a one-off grant.

Each year 15,000 Aboriginal people are asked RU OK and assisted through the phone line. Aboriginal incarceration rates are already shocking; without the phone line and early legal advice they will increase.

Please help us assist vulnerable Aboriginal people in police custody with access to early legal advice and a well check through our 24-hour legal advice and RU OK phone line.

The phone line costs nearly the same to operate as holding two juveniles in detention for one year - $526,000 per annum.

The ALS is urgently calling on the Australian government to fund this essential service. Aboriginal incarceration rates are already too high. It is likely they will increase if the CNS is not operating.